Mr. Nicholas Jermyn:

I was written to by the Eastern Regional Health Authority. I have letters written to me as chief executive of St. Vincent's Healthcare Group. What I am saying is that we did not look for permission from the HSE or the Department over the years. As a limited and private company, the board of directors made decisions on the basis that it felt this was the best way forward in regard to integrating the services. However, the board has agreed - the chairman indicated this - that there is a need to look at the situation but I want to stress that at no time did anybody think that the model we had was not working. It still works. However, the key here is to recognise that there is a need to look at it now, having regard to the changing circumstances, etc. This is a governance issue as well, so I suppose it may not be fully right that I should be answering that question.